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It's time to score a deal in these 10 popular Sun Belt metros like Austin, Texas, and Naples, Florida, where prices have plummeted more than 10% since spring

It's time to score a deal in these 10 popular Sun Belt metros like Austin, Texas, and Naples, Florida, where prices have plummeted more than 10% since spring

Kelsey Neubauer

Home prices have dropped, even in some of the most popular areas.Justin Sullivan/ Staff/ Getty Images

Home prices are dropping in the nation, softening the impact of higher mortgage rates.
This is good news for buyers, who may now be able to afford homes in some popular cities.

For prospective homebuyers who've been waiting for prices to come off the boil, their time to strike may already be here.

Since springtime, some places that saw the fastest home-price growth have endured rapid declines in housing values, according to Knock, a lender that helps people buy a new home before selling the one they already own. One likely reason is that mortgage rates at two-decade highs have hurt affordability, especially for first-time buyers whose share of purchases this year has been the lowest since at least 1981, when the National Association of Realtors began tracking that data.

Home-price declines have reached double-digit percentages since May or June in several areas, even in some of the most popular Sun Belt metros, according to Knock. It's one ray of hope for buyers in cities including Austin, Texas, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Naples, Florida.

To be sure, economists have predicted that price drops aren't over as high mortgage rates continue to quash demand. Markets in some places may be suffering for other reasons, too. For example, Hurricane Ian ravaged Naples last month.

But in a few places, these prices have plummeted so much that they've almost completely offset the 10-month surge in mortgage rates.

Take Reno, Nevada, a city with the most dramatic price drops on Knock's list, for example.

In May, the median Reno home price peaked at $570,000 and the average rate for a 30-year mortgage was around 5.23%. Under those conditions, a homebuyer who put 5% down on a typical house in the area would have paid principal and interest of $2,983 per month, according to Insider's mortgage calculator.

Since then, the median price for a home in Reno has dropped 14.1%, to $490,000 and the 30-year mortgage rate has settled at 6.95% this week, according to Freddie Mac. The person purchasing the typical house would pay $3,081 per month.

Another reason to consider buying now is that less demand means buyers have more negotiating power. Sellers are more willing to cut prices or make other concessions, resulting in a better deal. There are more houses to choose from, too.

To decide for yourself if it's time to buy in these 10 popular places, Insider has compiled median prices now versus at the peak, average days a house sits on the market, and how big each place is.

These are some discounted markets: